Do you struggle to record who on your payroll is isolating, shielding, furloughed or recently reported possible Covid-19 symptoms? Are you tired of keeping your teams updated with ever-changing public health advice? Is your company balancing the tightrope between safeguarding staff whilst staying in business? If so, you are definitely not alone. The good news is that a robust absence management system can help make these tasks easier. Below are a few points to illustrate why absence management is essential work in the era of Coronavirus, especially for those employing essential workers. Continue reading
Tag Archives: UK government
Returning to the workplace after lockdown
Many businesses across England are resuming operations after almost seven weeks in lockdown, employees are being encouraged to return to work, providing working from home is not possible; whilst employers are now required by law to comply with government sector specific guidelines to ensure the workplace is COVID-19 secure and with the necessary precautionary measures in place. Continue reading
Tribunal fees to claimants to be scrapped
In July 2013, new fees were introduced to pursue disputes against employers in the tribunal courts to defer employees from lodging unfounded claims. Type A claims for sexual harassment, unfair dismissal and discrimination cost claimants £1,200. Type B claims to recover unpaid wages or holiday pay cost the employees £390. This has had a major impact on the number of claims processed by the tribunal courts. Continue reading
Brexit – we’re in it for the long haul
Last week I attended London HR Connection meeting, where the topic was Brexit. The panellists were an employment lawyer, a high-end recruiter / head-hunter and a People Management magazine editor. All three gave their impressions of Brexit so far and predictions for the future. Continue reading
Right to return within one year of absence?
The Resolution Foundation published a report titled Retention Deficit in June 2016 to discuss the challenge of increasing employment level among disabled people. This article provides a summary of the report and recommendations. All the recommendations put forward here are those of the report authors.
Despite the employment rate sitting at a record high, the government has positioned halving the disability employment gap as a central challenge for the UK labour market. Progress in employment rates among the disabled has been modest at best, but large geographic variations in disability employment rates give reason to hope that improvements are possible. Continue reading
MPs call for substantial reduction in tribunal fees
In June 2016 House of Commons Justice Committee of MPs released a report on Courts and tribunals fees. The report repeatedly chastised the Justice Ministry for not assessing the impact of the introduction of fees quickly enough. It was also highly critical of the Ministry for not making their data on the subject available to review. Continue reading
Brexit – how will it affect employment law?
The big day of Brexit referendum is tomorrow 23rd June 2016. One of the popular arguments for voting to leave the EU has been excessive bureaucracy and regulation imposed on the UK by the common market. What is unclear is how things would change, should a Brexit take place. This uncertainty affects the HR field as well as other walks of life and business. There have been several high profile employment tribunal cases in recent years that have escalated to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Will those court rulings on holiday pay, overtime etc. simply be overturned with a return to status quo before them? Continue reading
Do you understand the Fit Note?
Fit Note – 5 years on
The Fit Note was introduced in 2010 and it has been in use for a little over 5 years. IOSH, the Chartered body for health and safety professionals recently conducted a study into the Fit Note titled‘Getting the best from the fit note’, which found that there is still widespread misunderstanding about the notes. Continue reading
EAT ruling on holiday pay: commission to be included
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has confirmed that employers must pay commission as part of holiday pay. Continue reading
Autumn Statement and the Spending Review spell further commitment to reduce long-term absence
Tougher checks for disability benefits?
The Daily Mail wrote today, 25 November 2015, that George Osborne was expected to introduce new rules in awarding benefits to the long-term sick in his Autumn Statement. Today’s Spending Review does outline a vague plan of reforms Continue reading